Walls Come Down
by Alexandri
Summary: When they find themselves trapped together in a cabin on a team retreat, Zacharias and Ginny are forced to come to terms with their feelings for each other. Originally written in 2011.


**Title:** Walls Come Down

**Pairing:** Zacharias/Ginny

**Rating:** R

**Summary**: When they find themselves trapped together in a cabin on a team retreat, Zacharias and Ginny are forced to come to terms with their feelings for each other

**Word Count: **1,820

**Disclaimer:** Not mine.

**Author's notes:** Originally written for wizard_love on LiveJournal in 2011.

When Ginny first realized she and Zacharias Smith were stuck in the cabin they were inexplicably sharing, she'd thought it was a fluke. Zacharias had been sure that someone would come let them out when they realized neither of them showed up for any activities. After all, they were on a team retreat. They needed the whole team for it to serve any purpose.

That had been their apparently naïve conclusion three days ago. Now Ginny found herself naked on the floor, trapped underneath Zacharias. "Get off of me!" she screeched, shoving at his broad shoulders despite the pleasant thrum of need flooding her at the feel of him against her.

Zacharias scrambled to his feet, eyes squeezed shut. One hand clutched the towel secured around his waist while the other covered his nipples. Ginny had always found it odd that a man as well-built as Zacharias was so body-shy. Some of their teammates wished they had bodies as beautiful as Zacharias' and flaunted theirs without shame anyway. "I'm sorry," he exclaimed. "Why are you naked?"

"I was getting ready for my turn in the bath," she said, snatching up her supplies and flinging a towel around her body. "Now if you'll excuse me…" She darted around him and slammed the bathroom door shut behind her.

"Bloody hell," she muttered to herself as she turned on the shower. She had no idea what Tamsin Merriweather, captain of Ginny's team, the Appleby Arrows, had been thinking putting them together like this. Well, actually, she did but she didn't appreciate it. Sharing a small, one-room cabin with that man was going to be the death of her in more ways than one. They didn't get on well with each other. He was an arrogant, cowardly berk as far as she was concerned and, according to their fight their first night trapped in this nightmare, he didn't think much more of her. His exact words had been "you're a temperamental harpy who thinks that you're better than everyone else because your family is so closely connected to Harry Potter. Remind again me how that worked out for you."

It had been a low blow. After five years of what Ginny had thought was committed bliss, Harry had left her, saying that things weren't working between them. She'd been devastated and the papers had had a field day with their breakup. They'd had another one when Harry married someone else less than two years later. Needless to say, Ginny had had a hard time dealing with it all after over a decade of devotion to him.

Not that any of that explained her newfound and, frankly, disturbing attraction to Zacharias Smith. Sure, they were on the same team and played well off each other despite their non-existent personal rapport. Sure, they had helped lead the Arrows to a Top 5 in the League finish for the last two years in a row. Sure, Ginny's impulse to inflict physical distress on the man had practically disappeared (though Ginny attributed that more to her growing maturity than anything on Zacharias' part). Sure, things had improved somewhat between them but that was no excuse for the constant and nearly-overwhelming urge to push the man down on the cabin's one bed (really, Tamsin wasn't even being subtle) and having her way with him.

Sighing, Ginny stepped into the shower and hoped the spray would wash away some of her confusion.

It didn't.

Twenty minutes later, she was back in the main room, dressed and prepared to face Zacharias. She found him in the kitchen, his face stoic as he made omelets, at least one of which she knew was meant for her. He may be a berk, but Ginny had discovered that he was a considerate one. He'd decided to take over kitchen duty while they were stuck together, which was just fine by her.

Silently, he passed her a plate with an omelet and several slices of apple. She took it with a nod and waited for him before they sat on the rather small sofa to eat. Ginny tried to focus on her meal, but his hands—long, slim, almost elegant—kept grabbing her attention, pushing at her memory. _Large, warm hands gently cupping her face. Thumbs caressing her jaw in unison as full, wind-chapped lips brushed over hers. Brushed then settled then claimed. Then…_

Ginny shook the memory and sat back. "We've got to get out of here."

"We established that two days ago."

"You're not helping," she sniped.

Zacharias sighed and put his fork down. He leaned back against the sofa and met her gaze. His eyes were a gorgeous, clear blue and Ginny had never really noticed how mesmerizing they could be and, sweet Merlin, she was pathetic. "I thought we agreed that the only way out of here was giving the team what they want."

"True," Ginny agreed, swallowing and averting her gaze.

"We just have to figure out what that is."

It was all Ginny could do not to gape at him. She knew exactly what the team wanted: they wanted Zacharias and Ginny to shag and get over their inconvenient sexual tension. They said as much after their loss to the Chudley Cannons had knocked them out of the Top 5. _"I don't know what your problem is, but the two of you need to pull your heads out of your arses and just shag already. Help the team out, why don't you?"_

"You really don't know what they want?" Ginny asked.

"I…" Zacharias stopped and let his head fall back on the back of the sofa. "I don't see how it'll make anything better."

He wasn't so naïve, after all. Good. "It can't make things worse."

Zacharias scoffed. "You don't want me, Ginny. You're still in love with Potter. You'd be rebounding with me and feeling like you were cheating on him or something."

She'd already rebounded plenty. It hadn't been pretty. "You don't know me or how I feel."

Suddenly, that magnetic gaze was on her again. "Then why did you bolt after I kissed at his wedding reception?"

He would throw the kiss back in her face. "That was a mistake."

"What was?" he persisted. "Kissing me, bolting or taking me to Potter's wedding as your date to make him jealous?"

"I was trying to prove that I've moved on!"

"Have you?"

"Yes!"

"Mm-hmm," Zacharias said, clearly not believing her. "Sure you have."

"I have."

"Then why won't you answer my question?" he challenged. "What was the mistake?"

"I…"

"I'm waiting."

"I…"

"Well?"

"I don't know," she exclaimed as she shot to her feet. "I don't know. All of it? It was a stupid, immature thing to do in the first place."

"Kissing me, bolting or…"

"Does it matter?"

"I think so," Zacharias said quietly as he stood and rested his hands on her shoulders. "You're the hold-up here, Gin."

Ginny blinked in surprise. Zacharias had never taken such a gentle tone with her before. Usually, he was quite brusque. She didn't really know how to deal with a tender Zacharias. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that, as long as your heart belongs to Potter, I'm not going to be his stand-in."

"You hate me," Ginny pointed out.

"I've never hated you," Zacharias corrected. "You hated me. I've disliked you. I've distrusted you. I've also noticed that you're smart and talented and loyal to those you love, which is really important to me. And it hasn't escaped my notice that you are stunningly gorgeous. I see you, Ginny Weasley. You've just never really looked at me."

"Says who," she murmured as she leaned in to kiss him. He pulled back and she flushed. "I'm sor…"

"Be sure, Ginny, because I'm not the casual kind. I've loved exactly one woman my entire life even though she never reciprocated. I'm ready to love someone else, not play the field. If you can't open up like that, then don't…"

"Toy with your heart," she finished for him. "Believe me, I've been there. I understand."

"So, the Quaffle's in your hands," Zacharias said, his gaze intense. "What are you going to do?"

Ginny stared at the man before her. Most of what she thought she knew about him consisted of her own stubborn misconceptions, but she was finally beginning to realize just how false they were. One thing she did know was that if Zacharias was anything, he was a gentleman and far more thoughtful than she'd ever given him credit for.

"Well?"

She smiled up at him as she brought his lips down to hers. "I'm going to play."

It didn't take long for either of them to shed their clothes. It didn't take long for Ginny to maneuver them to the large bed in the cabin and push Zacharias down onto it. Zacharias didn't hesitate to pull her on top of him. Still, their kisses were slow and lazy, each taking the time to really explore the other. There was a bit of a struggle when Zacharias tried to flip her onto her back. "No," she whispered against his mouth. God, he was a wonderful kisser. "I want to see you."

He stared up at her for a long moment before acquiescing and sinking into the mattress. Ginny took her time—learning his taste and the contours of his body, cataloging every gasp, moan and twitch. She lost herself in the moment and the scent of him and the writhing of his body beneath hers. When she sank down onto him, gasping at the way he filled her so completely, she finally felt free for the first time in years. They found their rhythm after a few stops and starts and Ginny stopped thinking and let her body take over. Her climax overwhelmed her when it hit and she couldn't hold back her cry of sheer pleasure. Zacharias followed moments later and she collapsed, perfectly sated, on his chest.

They settled into a drowsy, comfortable haze. Ginny couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so at ease. She could get used to this.

"Ginny?"

"Yes, Zach?"

"I meant what I said earlier," Zacharias said. "I didn't do this just to get out of here."

"Well, neither did I," she said, bristling at the insinuation.

"Calm down," he soothed, stroking his large, calloused hand over her side. "No one said you did. I'm just saying that, as far as I'm considered, this is the beginning of a relationship."

Though she wouldn't have thought so if you'd asked her the day before, Ginny had to admit that a relationship sounded really, really good. "A relationship," she agreed.

"You're going to hate me sometimes."

"I know."

"It's probably not going to be easy."

"Not with the two of us."

"What have we got ourselves into?"

Ginny laughed and snuggled into Zach's side. "I have no idea, but it won't be boring."


End file.
